Valverde dismisses centre-back signing amid talk of Christensen loan

The Denmark international has been linked with a January switch to Barcelona, but the Barcelona boss does not appear desperate for such a deal

Barcelona head coach Ernesto Valverde is not interested in signing a new centre-back in the January transfer window, despite talk of a move for Chelsea's Andreas Christensen.

A report in Sport on Saturday claimed the Catalans have made a loan offer for Christensen, who has made just one Premier League appearance under Maurizio Sarri this season, as part of a contingency plan to cover for the injury to Samuel Umtiti.

The France international is sidelined with a knee problem and Barca are said to be keen not to be left short-handed in defence, especially given Thomas Vermaelen's persistent injuries.

"Umtiti could recover and that would be great news for us and would mean that we would have four centre-backs for the rest of the season, although three are left-footed.

"We will know more about what happens with him in a little while, but we are Barcelona and want to have a team who can respond. As I said, we'll see what happens but I'm happy to manage with what I have."